[CrisBrown]

Hi All,

Okay, make of this what you will, but this is my take on the recent brouhaha:

(1) William and I do not like each other and are not and never will be friends. Each of us thinks the other is an arrogant ass. Each of us is always right, including that the other is an arrogant ass.

(2) William and I play poker very differently. His risk-averse, survival-comes-first strategy is closer to what you read in Cloutier or Sklansky. In the loose, fast, fishy SNGs that are prevalent online, "by the book" poker is +$EV, because the fish will pay you off when you get a big hand and will bust themselves while you wait for it (a very nice combination). I used to play William's style, and in a low buy-in tourney with lots of fish, I still would.

But the "by the book" style also has its weaknesses. It's easy to read, which means good opponents won't pay off your big hands. And good opponents won't be busting themselves out while you wait for a big hand; they'll be building a stack with which they can afford to target you. Finally, a "by the book" approach can lead to overplaying the hands you do get, because you're playing so few that a sense of desperation creeps into the pots you do play. And while you won't often bust out early, you will often be short-stacked and desperate on or near the bubble.

(3) I don't play "by the book" poker, and I don't apologize for that. I play (or try to play) +EV poker. It is a much more dangerous style, and it has its own strengths and its own weaknesses. Its strengths are deception, stack growth, and a lesser likelihood of making desperation plays with a big hand because you've been sitting there so long. Its weaknesses are that it's riskier -- you bust out earlier rather than on or near the bubble -- and it places a heavy premium on player- and hand-reading. If you're distracted, or just having a off day, it can cost you a lot of money in a big hurry.

(3) So which of us is right? Well, the books say William is. The WPT money list says I am, as all of the top pros play some variation of loose-aggressive poker, even Howard Lederer. And actually, the answer is ...

... neither of us is right all the time.

In a loose, fast, fishy tournament, play William's style. It will make you money far more often than it costs you. In a tight, patient, tricky tournament, you'll need to play my style at least part of the time, or you'll get blinded into a short stack and picked off like confetti.

It just depends on the situation, and you need to be able to play BOTH styles well in order to be consistently successful.

Cris